The war has been a catastrophe for Russia as well as Ukraine, but that’s a fact that can’t be changed.

Given that the tide of battle has turned against Russia, there’s unlikely to be a better opportunity.

The result will be another frozen conflict, which will have to wait for Putin’s death or removal to be resolved (and even that may not be enough).

This would be a great time for #Putin to announce a ceasefire on existing lines, subject to the removal of sanctions on oil. He could spin it as a victory, and it would be hard for the Ukrainians to reject.

*excellent* news

Major technology companies simply ignore globally defined opt-out signals. Yet another reason to prosecute them

The court ruling in Gina Rinehart’s mining dispute reveals a lot about the nation’s inherited wealth My latest in The Conversation

The coming patrimonial society

Doppio in a cup and gelato in a cone for me

If Trump REALLY wanted to show Australia how upset he is with use he’d go ahead and tear up the AUKUS agreement. That’d show us! #auspol

Horrifying trend sweeping Australia Peter Hazell no longer has teeth and he’s also $83,000 worse off for it.

At the back of all this is the exclusion of dentistry from Medicare. Labor promised to fix this in 2019, but #Albo dumped the so he could deliver Scott Morrison's tax cuts. Instead, people are being encouraged to cash in their super to finance health care. #auspol

Also, lots of interaction has gone online, where physical proximity is less important.

It was a huge over-reach that will take a long time to reverse.

One consolation is that the life expectancy of the Danube Institute is measured in months at most. The Danube will run through free democracies now.

Immigration helps and is beneficia;, but we could do the job without immigration if needed.

Hot-desking and general ens*ttification of office work preceded pandemic. Then bosses were surprised that workers preferred a home office or even a kitchen table as a workplace.

The big lesson of WFH is that the bosses don't have a clue about the workplaces they are paid megabucks to run.

The consequence of trying to rig the system in favor of incumbents. HC can't write a new law, just invalidate the bad one.

A reader points out that the authors cite a couple of opponents of multiculturalism. both of whom have been dead for some time. So, "zero evidence" is an overstatement.

Humans are naturally prone to addiction. A policy that ignores this fact is doomed to failure

I'm still open to the view that a tax-based policy can be salvaged with better enforcement and legalised vapes (which Chapman opposes IIRC). But as things stand, it's evident that taxes have been pushed too far.

There’s a silent epidemic in our workplaces, and WFH is to blame Spending time with our colleagues is something we once took for granted, but in the modern workplace, that’s no longer the case.

This is so annoying. If I want to make friends with people at work, I can do it without turning up every day. And if I prefer to make friends at my local cafe, i'll do that instead. In particular, I'm not obliged to make managers feel less lonely as they walk around.

LNP will find out what proportion of immigrants (one-third of all Australians) go along with this hypocrisy.

The logic of harm reduction is the same, but you need to look at the alternative. Cigarettes (the more dangerous form) are legal and effectively untaxed for many. Vapes less available. By contrast, methadone and clean needles more accessible than heroin.

Understanding Viktor Orbán’s downfall: The demise of Europe’s outlier | Canberra Daily Bruce Dickinson, the lead singer of the metal band Iron Maiden once said: “Nothing lasts forever but the certainty of change”.

Two UQ-affiliated authors endorse #Orban's anti-immigrant position asserting (zero evidence) that the "disastrous" policy of multiculturalism undermines national identity. Both authors are (or have been) immigrants to Australia, from non-English speaking backgrounds. #auspol

How did Australian universities go from free education to $50,000 arts degrees in 50 years?

TIL that there's a statement of Australian values visa applicants must sign. I don't have a problem with that. But "compassion for those in need" would exclude anyone planning to join the Institute of Public Affairs, which regularly rails against the "compassion industry".

And the anti-vape case is based on claims about "gateway drugs" that reverse causality. Of course people who vape are also more likely to smoke.

Given the legal right to sell vapes, tobacconists might be less willing to risk closure by selling untaxed cigarettes.

Saw this day-old notice in Mareeba the other day. Enforcement of laws against illegal tobacco sales is a necessary but not sufficient condition for fixing failure of anti-smoking policy in Australia over recent years. Next, abandon the absurdity of restricting vapes more strictly than cigarettes.

Newsletter for March 2026 I’m writing this on the way back home from the 60th National Folk Festival in Canberra.

My latest news

The court ruling in Gina Rinehart’s mining dispute reveals a lot about the nation’s inherited wealth You don’t have to be born rich to make big money in Australia, but it certainly helps.

The patrimonial society is halfway here

Bluesky somehow chopped the text from my previous post linking this article